Investigation is part of a broader probe into military corruption that unseated Dong’s two predecessors.China has launched an investigation of Defence Minister Dong Jun due to suspicion of corruption, according to reports.
Citing current and former US officials familiar with the situation, British newspaper The Financial Times said on Wednesday that Dong is the latest official to be caught up in a broad crackdown on corruption in the country’s military.
For the meantime, the report is unconfirmed. Chinese officials failed to respond to requests for comment or confirmation from news agencies on Wednesday morning.
China’s military has undergone a sweeping anticorruption purge since last year, with at least nine People’s Liberation Army (PLA) generals and several defence industry executives removed from the national legislative body to date.
Dong would be the third Chinese defence minister in a row to fall under investigation for corruption, unnamed US officials told the FT.
‘The trust of the party’
Dong, a former PLA Navy chief, was appointed defence minister in December 2023.
He is responsible for China’s military diplomacy with other nations. He oversaw a recent thaw in US-China military ties, with both nations holding theatre-level commander talks for the first time in September.
Dong’s predecessor, Li Shangfu, was removed after seven months into the job, and then expelled from the Communist Party, for offences that included bribery, according to state media. He has not been seen in public since.
Li’s predecessor, Wei Fenghe, was also kicked out of the party and passed on to prosecutors for alleged corruption.
A Communist Party statement at the time said the pair “betray …
